I Will Dance With Cinderella
by AmaranteReikaChan
Summary: Ruki never grew too old for dancing with her father. And Ino never grew tired of watching. KibaxIno


**A/N: What can I say other than I love this song and I love this couple? Well, I've noticed there is a distinct lack of family stories for Kiba and Ino so be prepared for one immensely fluffy reading experience. It is the sequel to Butterfly Kisses, my fatherxdaughter fic for Ino and Inoichi. **

**DISCLAIMER: Kiba and Ino copyrighted to Masashi Kishimoto. And _Cinderella_ is by Steven Curtis Chapman (great song). Kenta and Ruki are mine however.**

**SUMMARY: Ruki never grew too old for dancing with her father. And Ino never grew tired of watching.**

* * *

**I Will Dance With Cinderella**

"The children will follow the example, instead of following the advice."  
Lord Palmerston

Even at the age of one and a half Inuzuka Ruki would bounce and sway herself to the sound of any tune, even to the sounds of the doorbell and phone ringing. Evidently the dancing hobby that Kiba and Ino had both held in their younger years had spread to their children.

When Kenta was born they had danced around the room with him frequently, six years later Ruki seemed all too happy to do so herself without any assistance. She'd bop up and down on the spot or stand there and move her arms gracefully, only finding more reasons to continue with the attention she received. There were times when Ino wondered if she'd choose to be a ballerina instead of a shinobi.

_**She spins and she sways to whatever song plays, without a care in the world. And I'm sitting here wearing the weight of the world on my shoulders**_

Ruki spun around in circles lithely in the living room almost knocking over one of the family's dogs as they walked by her. Ino watched her daughter from the kitchen in mild amusement.

It was beyond everyone how Ruki would choose to play with a truck over a doll and yet still be so excited by fairytales and dancing. In every aspect she was just one of the boys; always playing with them, loved getting dirty in the mud, hated any colour that could possibly be called girly, and always involved herself with what the men and boys were doing rather than the women.

At the age of three she was turning out to be possibly the biggest tomboy the Konoha Twelve had seen within their offspring. However, despite being such a big tomboy she still loved the girlhood fantasies of princes and castles and balls and dancing. Her personality seemed to be filled with all sorts of mismatches and contradictions that no one could understand.

Thoughtfully, Ino turned her gaze towards her husband – situated on the couch within his own universe. He'd been distant ever since he'd arrived home that night – much later than usual due to some clan related hassles. And it seemed as though he'd been on edge all week.

Ino sighed; if he didn't stop stressing soon he'd get frown lines on his forehead. She pushed herself away from the bench she had been leaning on and made her way into the family room, dodging her spinning daughter in the process. She stopped behind the couch which Kiba was sitting on and, placing her hands on his shoulders, began to massage him.

Kiba looked up at her, a weak smile playing across his lips to display his appreciation.

"Forget the clan for one night," Ino mumbled comfortingly, "just relax."

_**It's been a long day and there's still work to do. She's pulling at me saying, 'Dad, I need you. There's a ball at the castle and I've been invited, and I need to practice my dancing oh please, daddy, please'**_

Ruki stopped spinning suddenly and trotted over to Kiba eagerly. She stood by the edge of the couch, her big brown eyes looking up at Kiba pleadingly.

"Daddy, I need you." She stated, with a distinct air of urgency.

"Yeah what is it bud?" Kiba asked, looking down toward her curiously.

"I ivited to ball at carsle." The three-year-old replied, beaming.

"Well that's great," Kiba said with the kind of excitement that a parent uses only when talking to their child, "do you know what you're going to wear?"

Ruki shook her head vigorously, her strait shoulder-length hair whipping around her face. "No, needs help."

"In choosing what to wear?" Kiba asked in clarification.

"No, dancing." Ruki said, shaking her head again. "I need help dancin. I need pruktice for prince." As she said the word prince a wide smile spread across her face.

Kiba sighed; he really didn't have time for this. He'd already wasted enough time, so much so where it was getting to the point that the clan needed a solution pronto, meaning right now. He couldn't help thinking that this job wasn't all it was cracked up to be. But he hardly expected Ruki to understand the logistics of being clan leader and why it cut into your family. But he also hated disappointing her.

"Honey I don't have time." He said apologetically. "I really should be working out this problem for the clan."

His rejection only made Ruki's puppy face more defined and elaborated. "Please daddy," she begged, "_please_."

"I'm sorry—"

He was interrupted by Ino tapping him lightly on the shoulder, then leaning down toward his ear. "The clan," she said quietly, "and its problems will still be here tomorrow. No matter what you do, how many times you fix something, there will always be something else that comes up. But this... this won't last forever. Every day she gets older. You don't want to wake up one day to find you've missed it all because you kept ignoring her for your work, do you?"

Kiba turned back to his daughter, eyeing her pensively. "No." He stated finally before springing from the couch and lifting Ruki up into the air in one swift movement.

Ino smiled in the background, mildly triumphant, as her daughter giggled joyfully at being thrown into the air by her father. Inuzuka Kiba was back.

_**So I will dance with Cinderella while she is here in my arms, cause I know something the prince never knew. Oh, I'll dance with Cinderella, I don't want to miss even one song, cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight and she'll be gone**_

Kiba spun around in circles with Ruki resting on his hip, causing her giggles to become ever louder. Eventually he slowed down and began to half-gallop half-dip his way around the room with her, making his own music as he went.

"Daddy," Ruki complained after a few minutes of dancing on his hip, "I wanna dance on floor."

"Oh, okay." Kiba grinned, purposefully pretending he misunderstood her meaning, he took her off of his hip and placed her down on his toes, gripping her tiny hands in his, where he proceeded to waltz around the room. Ruki sighed heavily.

"_Daddy_," she moaned shrilly, "on floor."

This time Kiba did stand her on the ground, before knelling down on his knees in front of her. He took her right hand in his left and placed his right hand on her back, arranging them into something resembling a waltzing position.

Kenta strolled in to find his father and younger sister dancing on the lounge room floor – or rather, swaying from side to side.

"You're dancing again?" He asked dubiously, before flopping down on the couch beside his mother, "Okay."

"Do you want to join?" Kiba asked, looking at him questioningly.

"No, I'm fine." Kenta declined politely.

"Don't be silly, come on." Ino prodded, taking him by the hand and leading him away from the couch. The eight-year-old sighed; there wouldn't be a way of escaping this even if he tried.

"Now, Ruki," Kiba said curiously when the entire family was dancing, his overprotective side beginning to show, "who _is_ this offending prince that invited you to a ball without my permission?"

* * *

_**She says he's a nice guy and I'd be impressed. She wants to know if I approve of the dress. **_

Kiba knew that as a father it was his God-given right to personally inspect all the boys his daughter happened to show an interest in. In fact it wasn't his right; it was his duty – his duty in looking out for his daughter's wellbeing and happiness. But if that was the case then he couldn't figure out why he was currently helping his daughter prepare for a ball where she was to be the date of a boy he knew no better than a few passes in the corridor.

"So tell me about this Hotaka." Kiba said as Ruki walked into the lounge room above the Yamanaka flower shop where she lived with her grandmother, two cups of tea in her hands. Ruki's expression turned wistful as she handed him one of the teacups.

"He's sweet... and dreamy..." She snapped out of her reverie at the realisation she'd just revealed that to her father. She coughed quietly, purposefully avoiding making contact with his gaze, and raised brow. "But, of course... that's just what I've heard. I think you'll like him though, he's really nice and does his work well."

"So I've heard," Kiba answered with a small chuckle, looking around the room at all the flowers around. "So what was it you wanted me to come around for?"

"Oh! The dress!" She cried, leaping up and running into her bedroom, the one that used to be her mum's – back when she lived there. A few minutes later she came running back in, holding a dress out to show Kiba. "What do you think?"

"It needs to be puffier with sunflowers on it, and with white socks up to the knees." Kiba answered teasingly, taking another sip of his tea.

"Dad." Ruki moaned. "I'm not five anymore."

"I know." He mumbled, his eyes taking on a reminiscent aura. Ruki looked at the clock on the wall and yelped. "What?" Kiba asked, concerned.

"I was supposed to go back down to the shop twenty minutes ago." She said, heading towards the stairs. "Are you coming down? I had something else I wanted to ask you."

_**She says, 'Dad the prom is just one week away and I need to practice my dancing, oh please, daddy, please'**_

When he entered into the flower shop a small smile made its way onto Kiba's lips. As he looked around himself all the memories of when Ino worked there came flooding back, the memories of him coming there to 'collect' her for a date or simply coming just so he could see his beautiful girlfriend. These days it wasn't Ino who was working in the shop; it was Ruki, at the age of 18, who was now the proprietor, having taken over ownership from her Grandmother some months ago.

Kiba couldn't have been happier when Ruki decided to quit being a shinobi shortly after becoming a chunin. Most of the clan weren't impressed in the way he and his wife backed her up in her decision, as they were losing one of their two unique talents. Being both the descendants of the Inuzuka clan and the Yamanaka clan Kenta and Ruki possessed the family traits of both those clans. They had the ability to not only track but also to control, read, and destroy minds. Which was a combination many of the Inuzuka and Yamanaka didn't want to lose.

But Kiba and Ino insisted they wouldn't force their daughter to continue as a shinobi. They'd never pressured either of their children into being a shinobi, despite what many people advised of the clan's head to maintain the profession in his children. They never forced their children to go to the ninja academy either, unlike many of their fellow aged comrades. They always maintained that it was their child's choice.

"So dad..." Ruki began nervously, snapping Kiba out of his musings, "I was wondering... well Kenta said that at these Jounin balls they always have the waltz as a dance at least once or twice... and well..."

"What's the problem?" Kiba asked in confusion. "You know how to do the waltz."

"Yeah, but... I haven't danced the waltz in ages!" She complained. "And the ball is less than a week away so I was wondering if you'd practice with me at one point. I mean I could come around to your house sometime after I've finished working if you want."

"Why wait until after work? Why not practice now?" He asked, indicating to the space around them.

"Here?" She asked incredulously. He nodded. "Okay." She mumbled as he led her by the hand into the middle of the clearing and took her in his arms.

_**So I will dance with Cinderella while she is here in my arms, cause I know something the prince never knew. Oh, I'll dance with Cinderella, I don't want to miss even one song, cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight and she'll be gone**_

Kiba helped her with her waltzing, reteaching her the moves and steps she had forgotten. And finally, two and half hours later, after having numerous interruptions from customers wanting to buy flowers, she was back at a stage where she could perform the moves successfully and effortlessly.

"Thanks dad," Ruki said appreciatively, walking to the entrance and flicking the sign so that it displayed the words 'CLOSED' to the occupants on the street, "you're a lifesaver. I think that helped. Now I have to go, I'm meeting up with Hotaka... would you be able to lock up shop for me?"

Kiba nodded his agreement. He couldn't help wondering where the time had gone. He remembered the day she'd said her first word like it was yesterday. Ruki had grown up so quickly, and the thing he'd dreaded her entire life through had finally come, the dating. But he knew that as long as he didn't resist it, she wouldn't resent him for it. He looked over his shoulder to the assorted flowers behind him.

"Just one more thing." He mumbled. Ruki turned to face him, waiting patiently.

Kiba knew that pink flowers generally expressed gratitude and appreciation so he scanned his eyes along the flowers in front of him and picked one out from under the title Sweatpea, and gave it to her. However, Kiba didn't exactly get the reaction he was after. Instead, what he got was Ruki bursting into a fit of laughter. "Mum was right! You are hopeless when it comes to flowers."

"What? Why?" Kiba asked, looking down at the flower in alarm.

"Are you trying to hint that this is going to end in departure?" Ruki asked.

"No." Kiba answered, baffled.

"Well that's what it means." Ruki clarified.

"Oh." Kiba said dumbly. He looked around him and picked out another pink flower, before giving it to her. "What about this one?"

"A Primrose," Ruki told him, smiling as she took the flower from him, "that's much better, thank you. And I can't live without you either. Now, I really have to go." She leant up and gave him a kiss on the cheek, waved a hand in departure, and sprinted out of the shop and into the street.

Kiba stood still in the now silent shop for a few moments after the door clicked shut before running to the door and opening it, sticking his head out. He was about to call after her when he saw her standing a few metres away, facing towards him, her arms crossed and a smirk on her face. Kiba smiled, she was waiting for him. Was he really that predictable?

"Wow." She said, "Took you longer than I thought it would. Now what is it that you forgot to tell me?"

"Make sure he gets there at least an hour before the ball when he comes to pick you up. We have some talking to do." Kiba said sternly, adorning his infamous overprotective father tone.

"If you say so dad. Now, is that all?" Kiba nodded his agreement. Knowing that that was then end of his speeches Ruki started jogging away from him.

"And be home by ten!" Kiba called out when she was at the corner of the street. "I'll know from your grandmother if you aren't!"

"Okay dad!" Ruki cried back in exasperation as she rounded the corner.

* * *

_**But she came home today with a ring on her hand, just glowing and telling us all they had planned. **_

Kiba sat at the kitchen table, his eyebrows furrowed and his lips pursed in thought. He stared across at his daughter pensively, his chin resting on his hand. It'd had been a month since Ruki had first gotten engaged, and two months since the boy had asked for her hand in marriage. She may have been an adult by rights, and by far mature enough for a marriage, but he still couldn't shake the view of her as his little girl. Being a father was hard work, he concluded. Once you had one image of your child in your head you couldn't manage to remove it or alter it no matter how hard you tried.

Ruki began to feel self-conscious as she ate, feeling the eyes boring into her. She looked up at Kiba before letting out a sigh. "Dad... when will you get used to it already? I _am_ getting married."

"I know," Kiba responded, being snapped back to reality, "I was just remembering stuff, that's all."

"Speaking on the wedding," Ino interjected, smiling giddily, "have the two of you made any more plans?"

"Ah yeah," Ruki said excitedly, "basically we've decided to have it in spring cause it's the best time of year for flowers and everything."

"Have you thought about what flowers you want?" Ino asked, her excitement growing to match her daughter's.

"Well I was thinking something along the lines of..." Ruki began to say. Kiba tuned out, all this flower talk had never made sense to him. And he didn't think it ever would either. After all he had been hearing about them for three decades, for as long as he had known (and conversed) with Ino he had never begun to be able to understand it.

"Oh that's good." Ino interjected here and there when her daughter suggested a flower that she particularly liked. Eventually Ruki finished, not a second too soon in Kiba's opinion. "Hmm I'm not so sure about the last one though..." Ino said thoughtfully, "how about an alstromeria?"

"I never even thought of that!" Ruki cried in astonishment, confused as to how she could have forgotten it.

"Ah..." Kiba interposed, still slightly dazed from all this flower talk, it was as though they'd forgotten of his existence, "hello... normal commonfolk in here. Don't know anything about flowers, remember."

"Sorry dad." Ruki murmured apologetically, remembering just how true that statement was.

"Thank you." Kiba responded pointedly, with a small nod of his head, "One likes to hear conversations over dinner that he actually understands."

_**She says, 'Dad, the wedding's still six months away but I need to practice my dancing, oh please, daddy, please'**_

"Okay then," Ruki said smiling; "if you want to talk about something you'll understand how about the two of you tell me about some of your experiences as a married couple."

"Ahh..." Ino mumbled nervously, "I'm not so sure that's a good idea."

"Come on, I know it's not all diamonds and roses. Tell me." Ruki pleaded, her puppy eyes coming out. There was absolutely no way Kiba could resist his baby's puppy eyes.

"Well there are three rings in marriage." Kiba pondered.

"Yeah, the engagement ring and the two wedding rings – I know." Ruki said, with an expression that showed she thought he was stating the obvious.

"Wrong." Kiba said, a mischievous grin gracing his lips, "The engagement ring, the wedding ring, and the suffer-ring."

"DAD!" Ruki screeched, horrified, "That's positively horrible!"

"Ruki, don't listen to your father." Ino said trying to placate her daughter while shooting her husband a dirty, disapproving look, "Kiba, stop trying to scare her."

"But seriously," Kiba said, getting down to business, "marrying your mother was the best thing I ever did. I'm sure you'll find it some of the best days of your life."

"And some of the worst." Ino mumbled.

Kiba turned to his wife in astonishment. The term pot calling the kettle black had never applied more than it did now. "And you told me not to scare her."

"I'm just telling her the truth." Ino reasoned defensively, before turning back to her daughter, "But the good does out way the bad in the long run, so don't be worried."

"Are you implying there are bad things about me?" Kiba questioned, eagerly awaiting her reply.

"Nobody's perfect." Ino stated, taking a sip of her tea.

"Perfection's in the eye of the beholder." Kiba added.

"The last time I considered you perfect, was before we were married and that was twenty nine years ago." Ino stated nonchalantly. "You start living with someone and let me tell you, you quickly learn they are _not_ perfect – nowhere near it."

"But mum," Ruki objected cheekily, "you always said dad was perfect."

"Speaking figuratively," Ino explained, "one can still say that and _know_ that they aren't."

"We've nearly been married thirty years." Kiba pondered aloud, turning to Ino, a horrified expression on his face.

"Oh. My. Goodness. We have. That's quite a scary thought."

"If that's all then there is one last thing." Ruki said, biting her lower lip sheepishly, "Dad, we were kind of planning on the waltz being our wedding dance." Kiba started laughing, before standing up and holding his hand out for her to take.

_**So I will dance with Cinderella while she is here in my arms, cause I know something the prince never knew. Oh, I'll dance with Cinderella, I don't want to miss even one song, cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight and she'll be gone**_

Kiba strolled over to the CD player to start the music while Ruki cleared the middle of the lounge room, pushing the couch to the side.

"Just one more thing," Ino interrupted. Ruki turned back around to look at her mother, still sitting at the dining room table, "don't worry if you ever start to feel incompatible. The aim of marriage isn't to be compatible but to fight through and survive the instant when incompatibility becomes unquestionable. Despite how hard we tried to hide it from you kids I'm sure you can probably pinpoint a couple of times when your father and I were at that stage."

"Oh yeah." Ruki answered, laughing at the memories. Kiba pressed play on the music, and came back, arranging them into the waltzing position.

"If nothing else," he said as they started to dance around the room, Ruki looked up at him attentively, "there is one thing I want you to remember. In marriage, being the right person is as important as finding the right person. Promise me you'll remember that."

"Okay." They waltzed around the living area to nothing but the sound of the music playing.

"Does Hotaka know the waltz?" Kiba broke the silence after a few comfortable minutes.

"Well he learnt at the ball," Ruki answered, an unsure expression on her face, "but I think he's forgotten by now."

"Ahh. So he's going to be needing lessons... bring him around sometime. I'm sure you're mother will have fun dancing with a young man again." Kiba said, grinning back in Ino's direction mischievously.

"No, I prefer the more experienced type." Ino responded, just as teasing, "I like them with a few grey hairs."

Kiba's breathed hitched with insult, as his dancing came to a halt. "I do not have grey hairs!"

* * *

**A/N: I am honoured if you managed to make it to the end. I know family stories aren't everyone's cup of tea. If you liked it be sure to tell me what you liked! And if you didn't like it, feel free to review and say what you thought could have been better.**

**God Bless**

**ARC**


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